The little flower in life's garden
by The Cinder Crown
Summary: 'She'll always be my precious little flower,' - Both Harry and Ginny had almost given up hope, but in the end, the arrival of their little girl has always been a flowery surprise... and it wouldn't be the last. Family & mother-daughter fluff, HPGW, Scorily in later chapters :)
1. Chapter 1

**The little flower in life's garden  
**

* * *

The very first time Ginny felt the rather unpleasant and nauseous feeling in her stomach she simply closed her eyes and hoped that it would be over soon. Both her sons had just recovered from a nasty flu, and the red-haired witch had no desire at all to get sick herself. She didn't have the time for that. Especially not today! It was the first day in what felt like forever, since Ginny had a quiet day to herself. And she had gladly accepted Hermione's invitation to join her for a little girls-trip. First walking through the streets of muggle-London – Hermoine showed Ginny, amongst other things, a muggle apothecary, which was quite fascinating. Then the two witches had continued their way through the Leaky Cauldron into Diagon Alley. Both of them bought a couple of things for their husbands and kids, talked to a couple of friends they had met on the way, and were now taking a well-deserved break in the Madam Puddyfoot's tea-shop.

However, the nasty feeling was about to get the better of her, and in an attempt to get her breathing under control, Ginny pierced her nails into the banister of the little couch she's been sitting on; sending a small prayer to Merlin or Morgana or whoever could help her up there that nobody would notice her discomfort.

Naturally, her sister-in-law had immediately picked up on the fact that something was off.

"Are you alright, Gin?" she asked worriedly and put down her little blue-ish green cup of tea on the little table in front of them. "You look a bit pale…"

"I'm quite fine, Hermione," Ginny replied, though as soon as she heard her own words, she wasn't even able to convince herself that it was true.

Hence it was no surprise that the brightest witch of her generation only raised an eyebrow and looked at the red-haired witch skeptically.

Ginny sighed defeated. "My stomach's been a little off during the last couple of days that's all."

"Are you sure? Harry will have my head if he finds out that I dragged you here to Madam Puddyfoot's when you're not well!"

A small smile appeared on her face. "It's probably just the flu… nothing to worry about," she assured her sister-in-law and took a sip of her chamomile tea. Maybe this would settle her stomach…

"Besides, I wouldn't want to ruin our girls-day. It doesn't happen very often that the boys take the kids somewhere, does it?"

Hermione laughed. "No, it most certainly doesn't. Though I won't complain," here she paused and held up her hand; ready to pay for their little afternoon tea. "Ever since Hugo joined the family, I didn't have a quiet moment."

Ginny chuckled. "At least you have Rose… Don't get me wrong, I love my boys, but sometimes I just wish I had a little more female support in the house."

Putting the fork back on her now empty plate, Hermione shrugged; a teasing smile playing around her slips. "Well, you and Harry could always try for another little one."

The red-head witch laughed out loud. "And risking that it'll be another boy? So that I'm totally outnumbered?"

"I'm sure Harry would enjoy it."

"I bet he would," Ginny mused, slightly lost in her own thoughts. "I mean, we did try after I had Al… but apparently it just wasn't meant to be."

"I didn't know that, Gin."

"Well, we agreed not to make a big deal out of it… Apparently the spells back during the battle weren't so good after all… and we have Jamie and Al… I couldn't ask for more."

Hermione was about to say something, but the waitress came and the only thing that was heard was a slightly annoyed, "Hey, Gin, that wasn't the deal," as the red-head grinned snatched the bill out of Hermione's hand.

"Here, keep the change," she chuckled as she handed the money to the young woman.

"That's not fair, you already paid last time!"

Finally feeling a little less nauseous, Ginny got up from the couch, a smile on her face. "Fine, you'll pay for dinner then."

"For your own sake, you better keep your promise."

"Or what? You'll let me feel the wrath of a furious Hermione Granger-Weasley?"

Both witches laughed as they left the Pub to continue their shopping. "Indeed. But believe me, that's something you don't want to see, Gin."

.x.x.x.

"Mummy!"

Ginny didn't even have the time to get rid of her shoes before both her sons jumped right into her arms. Well, if the movement little Albus made could be considered as a 'jump'… all he did was bump right against her knees, his arms outstretched and calling her name over and over again.

"We missed you mummy!" little James shouted, then turned in her arms and looked at the bushy haired woman. "Oh, hello Aunty Mione!"

Hermione, who had entered the Potter-household right behind her, just chuckled, replied "Hello to you, too, James!" and put hung up her coat before she left Ginny with her kids and entered the kitchen to find her old friend.

"Mummy, up!"

Shaking her head, Ginny hugged little James one last time, and gave him a little kiss on the cheek before she put him down. Immediately, the four-year-old hurried after his aunt.

Then, the red-haired woman got down on her knees to be on the same high as her youngest son was.

"What's the magical word, Al?"

The little boy wrinkled his face and thought. Then, his eyes lit up and he beamed at his mother. "Please!"

Smiling, Ginny picked up the little green-eyed boy, who immediately put his tiny arm around her neck, mumbling something like "Imissedyoumummy."

"I missed you, too, Al," she replied, kissed him on the head and kicked of her shoes in the best way she could so she could follow everybody else into the kitchen.

The sight that greeted her left he speechless. She had expected the entire house to be in a state of total mess, but the opposite was the case! There wasn't even a single toy lying around in the kitchen!

Putting Albus down, who crawled straight off to follow his big brother James into the living room, Ginny walked towards Harry; a curious expression on her face.

"Hello, love, had a nice girls-day?" Harry asked in a too innocent voice as he kissed his wife softly on the lips.

"We did, didn't we, Hermione?"

"Indeed we did. Despite the fact that your wife wouldn't let me pay."

Harry chuckled. "Ah, my bad. I told her to do it."

Hazel eyes narrowed, but the red-head turned to her husband; leaving her sister-in-law no change to speak.

"What happened here, Harry?"

"What do you mean, dear?"

She raised an eyebrow at the word 'dear'; after so many years, the young woman could tell when her husband was trying to hide something from her. The blush that crept over the black-haired man's face was only confirming her suspicion.

He started to look to the ground, avoiding both women's eyes.

"Harry, what did you do?" Hermione asked suspiciously.

The emerald eyed man winced, then took a couple of steps backwards in order to get a little distance between himself and his wife. "Well, you see… It wasn't actually my fault… Ron and I… well…"

"Harry."

Ginny's expression left no room for any sort of argumentation.

"Wekindofboughtthekidsatoybroomstickandtheykindofsortofbrokeacoupleofmolly'sdishes."

Harry had spoken the words so fast that Ginny didn't understand anything at all. Well, she was quite sure that she did hear the words 'broomstick' and 'dishes', and if the feeling in her stomach was anything to go by, she already knew where his story was going.

"Could you repeat that, _dear_?"

The wizard bit his lip. "We bought the kids a toy broomstick – "

He skillfully ignored Hermione's "Oh Harry…"

"And well, you remember the dishes your mother gave us?"

"The pink ones with the reddish flowers?"

"Yes. Well, let's just say we don't really have them anymore…"

The guilty look on her husband's caused Ginny to burst out into laughing; he looked like a child who was expecting to get lectured by his mother.

Apparently, the wizard hadn't expected this kind of reaction, and he looked rather confused from his wife to the other witch in the room. "You're not angry?"

This time it was Hermione who answered. "Assuming you got the same set as Ron and I did, I'm quite sure that Gin is more than happy to have a believable excuse to be rid of the things."

From guilty to confused, Harry's eyes now showed relieve, and even a small chuckle escaped him. "Merlin, Ron and I already thought we'd be in more trouble than the kids…"

Laughing, Ginny gave her husband a little kiss on the cheek. "On the contrary, I think I've never been happier that Ron destroyed something."

"I'll let him know," the bushy haired woman chuckled, before she hugged her in-laws and made her way over to the door.

"Gin, would you take the boys upstairs? They've been asking for you the whole day. And I'll walk you to the door, Mione," Harry offered.

All the red-haired witch did was give a short nod. "Sure, give Rose and Hugo a kiss from me, Hermione," she answered as best as she could, for yet another wave of nausea hit her unexpectedly.

.x.x.x.

"Gin, are you coming?"

The witch faintly heard her husband's voice through the closed bathroom door, and she felt her lips giving him a short answer, but she couldn't really concentrate at all.

She had missed her boys dearly, even though she had only been shopping with Hermione in Muggle-London for a single day. The way her two little boy's smiled at her when she tucked them in was simply too sweet, and in times like these, Ginny was more than happy that she was a mother. Soon after that, she had read both of the boys a story, and then watched as both James and Albus drifted peacefully off to sleep.

Admittedly, the red-haired witch would have liked to stay with them a little longer – after all Harry and Hermione had the habit of talking for a couple of minutes on the front porch – but grumbling sound of her stomach, followed by the rather unpleasant urge to empty its content into the toilet was something she couldn't fight.

And as fast as her feet carried her, Ginny hurried to the bathroom – almost knocked down an ancient mural painting of one of her ancestors - and threw up in a very un-elegant way.

Cleaning herself up afterwards, she continued to stay in the bathroom, going through several drawers in the search of something that would help. To her disappointment, she noticed that James and Albus had consumed the last bit of nausea-potion the last time they had the flu.

' _I have to remind Harry to get some more…'_ she thought with a sigh as she let her dark brown eyes wander around the room.

Suddenly, her attention had been drawn upon the little calendar on the wall. She had checked it twice, but the dates were right.

And now, she was sitting on top of the little carpet on the bathroom floor, staring at the little muggle-advice in her hands with an expression of pure disbelieve.

' _This cannot be possible…'_

A thousand thoughts were running through her head, all at the same time. Confusion, fear, happiness, excitement, hope, love… all the emotions that were floating through her body created a huge chaos.

Another glance at the stick, she felt the tears of joy running down her cheeks.

.x.x.x.

"Are you alright?" Harry asked his wife as she carefully climbed into his bed.

Ginny pushed the covers away, straightened her night gown and snuggled against her husband's chest; still a little speechless from her recent discovery.

"Hermione mentioned you weren't feeling well today. I would have taken the kids to bed myself had I known that – "

He was silence by Ginny's soft hand covering his mouth.

"Everything's alright. Well, better than alright, to be honest," she whispered, then took his bigger hand and placed it carefully on her stomach. "I – I'm pregnant."

The completely dumbfounded look on Harry's face caused the witch to smile even more.

"What did you say?"

"I'm pregnant."

He shook his head and looked at her with hopeful green eyes. "But I thought it was impossible…"

Ginny smiled and covered his hand, that was still resting on her body, with her own. "I know, so did I. I was so surprised when the test gave a positive result."

"Test?"

She blushed. "I bought a muggle pregnancy test today in muggle London… And before you asked, Hermione explained it to me."

Harry chucked, he did know that his wife was not really accustomed to muggle devices…

"I don't know why I even tried… I mean, the healers were pretty plain about the fact that I wouldn't be able to have any more kids after Al… But apparently we finally get the third child we always wanted."

Harry beamed, encircled his wife's waist with his strong arms, pulled her closer and kissed her softly on the lips. "I love you, Mrs. Potter."

Ginny smiled. It had taken her some time to get used to her new name, but now she wouldn't change it for all the galleons in the world. "I love you, too, Mr. Potter."

* * *

 **Words: 2,195**

 **Written for the March Even: Mother's Day at 'Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry'. 13. A woman learning she's pregnant.**

 **Written for the 365 Drabble Day Event at Hogwarts #29. Mural painting**

 **Written for the 'TV Show Episode Monthly Competition' – Once Upon a Time Season 3 / 2. +Lost Girl: Write a story about someone realizing something about themselves.**

 **Written for Hogwart's Writing Club – Days of the month / Day of Awesomeness - Write about someone doing/seeing something awesome. Alt: Write about someone having an awesome day.**


	2. Chapter 2

**The little flower in life's garden II**

* * *

"James, Albus hurry up!" Harry shouted from where he stood next to the fireplace. "You don't want to be late for Grandma Molly's dinner, do you?"

"Comin' daddy!" the two little boys answered simultaneously as they made their way down the stairs. Well, or rather crawled in little Albus' case.

Ginny watched the whole scene and just shook her head in an amused way. Naturally, she would have carried Al down the stairs – she had even convinced her usually overprotective husband that despite being three month pregnant she was very well able to carry her youngest down the stairs. But of course, the result of combining the Potter and the Weasley line were incredibly stubborn and strong-willed children.

And Albus, with the little sentences he was able to put together, had told her with a – for him – dead-serious face that he wants to climb down like his big brother.

Admittedly, it took him quite some time to take one step after the other, but it worked somehow.

Leaning her head against Harry's shoulder, both of them watched how James waited at the bottom of the stairs, shouting encouraging words and phrases to his baby brother.

"Do you think they'll still get along when the little one arrives?" The red-haired witch asked, worry swinging along in her voice.

She could feel her husband's breathing, before he reached around her and settled his hands on her slightly rounded stomach.

"Did you ever think that Jamie and Al would get along the way they do now? Exactly," he added upon hearing his wife's soft chuckle. "It will be new, but I'm sure they'll get used to it."

Ginny was about to reply, when she heard her youngest's excited voice.

"Mummy, I did it!"

"Yes, Al did it!" James joined him, hugged his little brother and tried to carry him towards their parents.

Smiling, Ginny bent down on her knees and hugged the two. "Well done!"

"Can we go to Granny Molly now, pleeeaase?"

Harry chuckled and carefully put some floo powder into James' hand. "Now, be careful and very clearly! We don't want you to end up in Nockturn Alley…"

"Yeah, like someone else we know…" Ginny mumbled giggling, tried to avoid Harry's playful nudge and instead picked up little Albus. "Now go ahead, we'll meet you there, love."

Together, Harry and Ginny watched their four-year-old vanish in the green flames of the fireplace. The witch felt her youngest shaking in her arms. He has never really been fond of this particular way of transportation. The first time they had tried it, he had burst into tears upon arriving at Ron and Hermione's place. She still remembered that it had taken them all incredibly long to calm the little boy down; and not even his favourite toy was much of a help back then.

Exchanging a look with her husband, Ginny could tell that he was thinking exactly the same.

"It's going to be just fine, Al. Just hold on tight, okay?"

There was still a lot of worry in his green eyes, but eventually Albus nodded hesitantly before he tightened his arms even stronger around Ginny's neck.

.x.x.x.

"Harry, dear, it's lovely too see you!"

Molly Weasley didn't even give Harry the choice to burst of the last remains of dirt from his robe, before the elderly woman embraced him tightly.

"It's nice to see you, too, Mum," Ginny chuckled at the fact that her mother had completely ignored her.

But the red-haired witch didn't mind. She knew that her husband had been a part of the family ever since he was in his second year. And everyone who knew the Weasley Matriach also knew that she would never stop looking out for her 'charge' – even though he was already grown up by now.

"I'm sorry, Ginny, dear, come here," the elderly woman apologized quickly and pulled her daughter into the same hug. Then she focused her attention on the little boy on Ginny's arm. To the younger witches relief, her son had taken the floo-travelling quite well. He looked a little confused, but apart from that he seemed to have handled it a lot better than the last time.

"Oh, hello Albus! How are you today? My, he's already grown so much since the last time I've seen him!" The last thing was said to Harry and Ginny, who both just smiled in return.

"They do grow up so fast, don't they?" Ginny wondered out aloud, and handed her son to his grandmother.

Molly made a couple cooing sounds, which made Albus giggle. "Indeed, and believe me, I know what I'm talking about. Even my little girl has grown up by now…"

Sometimes, Ginny wondered how her mother had managed to take care of all her children. There were times, when the red-haired witch didn't even know how to handle her two boys, let alone six and a girl.

Amazed, she watched as her mother carried Albus into the living room, where she had apparently already played with the other grand-children that were gathered around the table. It seemed like Hermione and Ron had already arrived, since little Rose and Hugo were both giggling happily upon James' and Albus' arrival. When her eyes fell upon Victoire, Dominique and Louis, her eyes widened a little.

"It seems we'll be having dinner with a lot more people than we thought…" Harry mumbled as he put an arm around his wife and led her into the kitchen – after all the kids were in the best of hands.

Ginny nodded, her heart beating a little faster.

"You don't have to tell them tonight, Gin. There's plenty of time," Harry whispered encouragingly and pulled a loose strand of red hair back behind her ear.

Ginny sighed. They had anticipated that only Hermione and Ron would be here tonight, she hadn't expected Bill, George, Fleur and Angelina to be present as well.

"I know… but I'd prefer getting the cat out of the bag today… I'm already starting to show and I'd really like to avoid Mum finding out on her own…"

And this was something Ginny dreaded more than anything. Keeping a secret from Molly Weasley was hard enough as it was, keeping a pregnancy from her was everyone's death sentence.

Harry, who was apparently thinking exactly the same, nodded slowly, but a small smile played around his lips. "Point taken. Better avoid another one of Molly's ' _how could you keep this from me'_ speeches…"

Once again, Ginny was amazed how well her husband could read her thoughts by now. He also managed to get a smile back on her face whenever she was worried about something.

Thinking back a couple of years, the red-head remembered the time when she had first been pregnant with their first child James. And how she had dreaded telling her mother because of all the unwanted advice she knew she would get from her mother… However, Ginny would have never thought that it would get even worse after the birth of her child. Merlin, she really loved her mother dearly, but that was indeed something she had to avoid with their next one or she'd most certainly kill the elderly red-haired witch...

" _Ginny, dear! What in Merlin's name are you doing?"_

 _The new mother had looked up just in time to see the Weasley matriarch march into the Potters' living room; her wand held high._

" _Mum?" The younger witch had asked in a tired voice and sat the book she had been reading to her newborn aside._

 _True, she wasn't used to the lack of sleep, but she was slowly getting used to her new role as a mother. And just because Ginny was the only girl of seven, didn't give her mother any rights to pop up unexpectedly and correct every single step she took._

" _Ginny, hon, you cannot read that kind of book to little James Sirius."_

 _Closing her eyes, the younger woman tried to control her rising temper. Harry had – reluctantly – left for a very important auror mission, and of course, Molly had heard that her little girl was completely on her own with the child._

" _Mum." Ginny really tried to sound as nice as possible and cradled her son closer to her, which always calmed her down a little. "what's wrong with the book?"_

 _Molly made a 'how can you not know that'-face and shook her head in disapproval. "He is not old enough to be read something like that."_

 _The younger red-haired witch raised an eyebrow. "It's a_ fairytale _, mum, I doubt he'll mind hearing about a sleeping princess."_

 _The Weasley matriarch looked as if someone had just told her something bad about her cooking-skills. "Ginny, dear, the princess is cursed, guarded by a nasty dragon and the prince has to fight! Where did you get a book like that anyway?"_

 _Trying not to wake her sleeping son, Ginny got up to be eye to eye with her mother. "If you must know, Hermione gave it to me."_

" _I'm surprised she would do such a thing… She should know better than giving you such dreadful stories to read," Molly pursed her lips. "Let me give you some piece of advice, my love."_

" _Mum, I really don't need – "_

" _From now on, stick to the common night-time stories. Here, why don't you take this copy of 'Beedle the Bard', hmm?"_

 _Ginny flicked her hand and sent the book flying onto the living room table, then she looked at her mother with questioning brown eyes. "Oh, and you think the tale of the three brothers – where they make deals with the death by the way – is more suitable to read to an infant?"_

.x.x.x.

"So, how's everyone doing?" Bill asked as he put some salad down on his plate.

George laughed. "Fleur taught you how to make small talk already, brother dearest?"

Everyone laughed.

"Ah, eeven iif I tried, 'e would not liisten to mee," Fleur added in her French accent.

"He can't be worse than Ron," Hermione chuckled and nudged Ron softly, who just grinned. "And it seems like he passed on some of his bad manners to Rose. She keeps pranking Hugo, I swear, you should be happy to have only two boys that get along, Gin…"

Both Harry and Ginny exchanged amused looks and tried to nod without giving too much of their soon-to-be family addition away, but of course, Molly immediately picked up on something.

"What was that?"

"What was what, Molly?" Harry asked innocently.

"That look! The two of you always have this unspoken communication…"

Arthur patted his wife on the shoulder. "Molly-polls, leave the kids alone."

At her defeated look, Harry and Ginny once again glanced at each other, agreeing on 'now or never'.

"Well, you know, dad, Mum is right, there was something we wanted to tell you," Ginny spoke and tried to ignore George's joke in the background.

She felt Harry taking his hand in hers and after another shared look, the red-haired witch took a deep breath to steady herself.

"Harry and I… well, we'll be having another child."

A moment of silence in the Burrow usually never meant something good. Ginny could feel everyone's eyes on her and she clutched Harry's hand tighter.

The first one to speak was Hermione, who got up from her chair and hugged both Harry and Ginny, whispering a "that's wonderful, congratulations!" into their ears.

After that, all hell broke loose. Molly screamed excitedly, pulled first her husband into her arms at the prospect of yet another grand child, then hurried over to the expecting couple and pulled both of them into a bone-crashing hug.

Out of the corner of her eye, Ginny could see Bill handing George a couple of Galleons and she shook her head. _'How in Merlin's name did they make a bet about that?'_

Once the money had changed the owners, both of them hugged their little sister and simultaneously said "Congrats, sis," and "Well, done," to Harry, before clapping the black haired wizard on the shoulder.

.x.x.x.

Later that evening, Harry and Ginny stood in an incredibly crowded room in their house, which was stuffed with all kinds of unused things.

The black haired man had once again his arms around his wife, and for a moment, they just stood there in silence.

"Dinner went better as we thought, didn't it?"

Ginny nodded and leaned back against his chest. "Indeed it did. Mum didn't even try to give yet another piece up unwanted advice like she usually does."

"She was probably far too excited," Harry speculated and searched the room with his emerald eyes. "You know, I think once all this stuff is out of here, it will be a nice nursery."

The red-haired witch felt how her husband once again placed his hands over the little bump, where their child was slowly growing.

"Me, too."

"Maybe a little bit of paint on the walls to freshen things up?"

Ginny glanced at her husband, smiling brightly. "What about green? Plants, trees, gardens, the colour of life."

Harry returned her smile. "Green, the colour of a _new_ life."

"Yes, I'm sure it will turn out to be the perfect place to live."

* * *

 **Words: 2,208**

 **Written for the March Event: Mother's day at Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry #11. A new mother getting unwanted advice from everyone.**

 **Written for the TV-Show Episode Monthly Competition #9. Save Henry: Write about a mother and her child.**

 **Written for the 365 Drabble day Event at Hogwarts #46 dreadful**


	3. Chapter 3

**The little flower in life's garden III  
**

 _For AJ, Happy Birthday! *hugs*  
_

* * *

Ginny tried to look at her husband with a challenging expression, but the smile that was playing around the corners of her mouth betrayed her. Luna next to her only smirked.

Harry sighed, but as Ginny had expected, he bent down and picked up their four-year-old son James.

"We'll meet you at the restaurant?" The jet black haired man asked rather sheepishly.

Ginny only shook her head, giggling, and tightened her hand around little Albus' wrist.

Before leaving their house to meet with the platinum blonde witch in Muggle London, Harry had _apparently_ made sure that James had put the present, which the little boy had made for his aunt Luna's birthday, into his backpack.

They had almost reached the nice little Italian restaurant when their son had stopped dead in his tracks, turned to his mother and - already being close to tears - whispered into her ear that the 'thunderbird' he had created was still sat on their kitchen table.

Since the whispered words word were not really whispered at all, Luna had naturally also heard the 'secret' conversation between mother and son.

Though being Luna, she of course would not have cared about getting a present, but since she knew that James had put so much effort into his work, she had casually mentioned that, "Jamie, dear, I'm sure your father will go back to the house with you to get whatever it is you have forgotten. Right, Harry?"

Harry had playfully glared at her.

"Yes, we'll meet the two of you there," Ginny answered with a smirk. "Just make sure to hurry, or we might start dinner without you."

This time Harry's eyes widened. He wasn't quite sure if his wife was joking; women - especially the ones 8 month pregnant - were as he had experienced very unpredictable whenever it came to food.

"Come on, Jamie, let's better hurry or Mummy will eat all our pizza," with that, he held onto his son and apparated away.

Both Luna and Ginny burst into laughter afterwards.

"The look on his face was priceless," Luna laughed, and picked up little Al, who had desperately asked to be picked up by Aunty Luna.

Ginny smiled and softly brushed her hand over her baby bump. "He deserves it, Lu. I told him three times to check the damn backpack."

Smirking, both women waited patiently until the light turned and they could cross the street.

"If he gets too heavy, I'll take him again," Ginny said casually, and gestured towards the two-year-old boy on the blonde's arm.

Luna shook her head and gave her a scolding look. "I'll cast a weightless charm on him before I'll let you carry Al in your condition."

"But -"

dreamy blue eyes rolled. "No buts, Gin. We don't want you or that little one get exhausted.

Ginny sighed, but nodded. She knew better than to argue with her friend, especially on her birthday. Besides, she was sort of right… The little on in her belly was indeed quite active these days - Ginny was sure that he or she was already practicing the one or other Quidditch move.

"Fine," she answered and stopped for a short moment on the street to feel yet another one of her baby's kicks before continuing to cross the street. "Though you know, he is actually old enough to walk on his - "

"GIN, WATCH OUT!"

Confused, Ginny turned her head and she froze, eyes wide with shock.

Everything was happening too fast and the last thing she saw was Luna, with Al still on her arm, jumping to the side. Then the car hit and everything blurred.

…x.X.x…

 _Groggily opening her brown eyes, Ginny blinked at the bright light that was blinding her._

 _Slowly, she lifted her head, moved her arms and pushed herself up in a sitting position._

 _Once her eyes had gotten used to the unusual brightness around her, she slowly started to look around to take in her surroundings._

 _She saw a couple of people passing - some talked to each other, smiling, laughing, others were simply waiting in a line._

 _Squinting, she started to recognize tables and chairs, lovely painted walls and a counter with cake, biscuits and fruits; the long line of people was apparently waiting in front of it to get coffee._

 _If the place and its people weren't so unnatural bright, Ginny might have said she was in one of these adorable little coffee shops that could be found all over in Muggle London._

 _Getting up in a straight position, the red haired witch reached out and tried to pat one of the passing people._

" _Excuse me, Ma'am, would you mind telling me what's going – " she stopped mid-sentence, as her outstretched arm passed right through the elderly woman's shoulder; as if she was a ghost._

 _Panic rising inside of her, the young woman tried to speak and touch the others, but they simply kept on with what they were doing as if Ginny wasn't even there._

" _They won't answer, my darling. They never do."_

 _._

 _Beyond startled by the soft, but completely unexpected voice, Ginny jumped around - one hand protectively resting upon her belly._

 _She drew her wand, ready to defend herself._

 _But one her eyes fell upon the elderly woman, who held her hands up in a peace-offering gesture, Ginny paused._

 _A familiar and surprisingly calming feeling flowed from the mysterious women, along with the nagging thought that she had somewhere seen her before. The shoulder length, red hair that was streaked with grey, framed her slim, ivory covered face and the sparkling, almond shaped emerald eyes showed kindness and wisdom._

" _Who are you?" Ginny asked, her voice trembling slightly._

 _She gave a soft smile, causing small, almost undetectable wrinkles to appear at the side of her eyes._

" _I won't hurt you."_

" _Good to know, though that's not what I asked."_

 _The elder red head chuckled. "Indeed not, though I thought reassuring you that I won't be a thread might come in handy as well. But why don't we sit down and I'll explain, hmm?"_

 _Ginny was a little hesitant, but after a moment of consideration, and the soft and encouraging smile of the emerald eyed woman, she nodded and sat down on a nice, vintage chair with a white round table attached to it._

 _Before the red head sat down on the opposite side of the table, she walked to the counter, put two mugs of tea and two pieces of raspberry cake on a tablet which she carried to Ginny._

 _Sitting down, she shoved one of each over to the younger red haired witch._

 _Ginny stared at her in surprise._

" _Chamomile tea and raspberry cake? These are my favorites. How did you know?"_

 _She took a sip of her own steaming tea and smiled; the other people around them were still oblivious to them._

" _I know a lot about you, Ginny."_

" _How do you know my name?"_

 _Again, she chuckled. "If you don't mind, I'll answer that in asking something else."_

 _She waited for Ginny's approval. The witch looked like she wanted to say something, but decided to keep quiet and indicated with a gesture of her hand that the elderly red head should go on._

" _Do you remember what happened before you…" She searched for the right word, "woke up here?"_

 _It wasn't a question Ginny had expected, but it caused her to think nonetheless. She took a moment to focus and search her mind. Then her eyes widened dramatically and she almost knocked over her tea._

" _The - the car! It - it…" She was unable speak any further for her throat tightened._

 _The red-grey haired woman nodded sadly. "Yes, the car hit you."_

 _All color drained from her face; pictures of Luna and Al rushed to her mind and she almost choked._

" _Your friend, Luna, managed to get your son out of danger," she mentioned and for a moment Ginny wondered whether the Lady had read her min. But her emerald eyes looked at her reassuringly and she reached out and carefully covered Gin's hand with her own. "They both have a few cuts and small bruises, apart from that they're perfectly fine."_

 _Ginny sighed in relief and nodded a couple of times, trying to get her emotions under control again._

 _Soon, she dropped her gaze and it fell on her belly. Again, panicky rose inside of her and her heart raced._

" _What - what about me?" She finally whispered the question that she had dreaded knowing an answer to. "Am - am I …?"_

 _The emerald eyed Lady smiled sadly._

" _Dead?" She continued sympathetically._

 _Ginny only nodded, her hands shaking as she reached out to touch her belly._

 _Her opponent sighed._

" _No. At least not yet."_

 _Ginny real eased the breath she didn't remember she had been holding._

" _Then…. What's happening to me?" she finally asked after having observed the ghostly people around the in the coffee shop._

 _The woman took a sip of tea once more._

" _Has Harry ever told you about his… Well, encounter with the Avada Kedavra?"_

 _Ginny nodded, they had spoken about that quite often in the years they had spent together. Sometimes seriously, sometimes in a very funny way._

 _But the younger one finally understood where the elder one wanted to go._

" _So, I'm in the same place? Somewhere in between life and death?"_

 _Emerald eyes sparkled and a relieved smile appeared on her face._

" _I knew you would figure it out," she said and used her spoon to stir in her tea._

" _But this place looks nothing like kings cross."_

 _She chuckled. "It always depends. You connect something personal with this place here, don't you?"_

 _Ginny nodded - she had only been a little girl then but her mother had taken her here for their first 'girls-day'._

" _Besides, I'm not Professor Dumbledore either, am I?"_

 _The young woman chuckled like she had when Harry had told her about that particular part of that story._

 _She now eyed the elderly woman closely. The flaming red hair, the small, now slightly wrinkled hands, the dark, emerald eyes and the kindness that was written into them… Suddenly it hit Ginny like a broomstick on her head and her brown eyes widened._

" _You're Lily."_

…x.X.x…

 _The witch smiled brightly now._

" _I am. And I cannot thank you enough for giving Harry the love and family I never could."_

 _Ginny, despite being still a little surprised, could see that the elderly woman had tears shimmering in her emerald eyes - Harry's eyes._

 _She reached out and squeezed her hand._

 _Lily Potter gave her a faint smile in return._

" _I will always love him," Ginny said honestly._

" _I know," lily replied and blinked away the last remains of her tears, "that's why you need to go back."_

 _Ginny's heart skipped a beat. "There's a way back?"_

 _The elderly witch nodded. "They have taken you to the hospital. They've been working on you for quite some time, but you're not out of the woods yet. The final task that is ahead is something only you can decide."_

 _The words slowly drained. Everything made sense now._

" _That's why you're here, isn't it?" she asked, brown eyes looking at her 'mother-in-law' thankfully, "You're here to help me."_

 _Lily smiled. "I'd say 'guide'... The others up here don't really like it when we interfere…" here she rolled her eyes. "But yes, I'm here to guide you how to make it back to your family. You have done so much to make my boy happy, so I don't care if I have to break a few rules to help you reunite."_

 _Ginny smiled happily. Even in death, Lily cared about everyone._

' _Thank you, Lily," she said, got up from her white chair and hugged the elderly witch tightly._

" _You're welcome, my dear," Lily whispered and brushed a strand of hair back behind Ginny's ear. "Now, we don't have much time left, listen closely…"_

...x.X.x…

"Mummy, wake up. Al is crying all the time."

"I'm not."

"Are too."

"Gin, please, please come back to me. You can do it. Open your eyes for me."

"Harry, her head is probably full of nargles."

"What are naggles?"

"Nargles, Al, they're, well…"

The first thing Ginny heard were several voices whispering somewhere next to her.

She was beyond relieved to her little Al's voice and she'd be always thankful that Luna had taken care of him.

Slowly, she then opened her eyes. At first, the light was as blindingly bright as earlier in the 'Coffee-shop', but soon, everything normalized and her attention was drawn to a pair of worried, emerald eyes that clearly belonged to her husband.

"Good riddance, Gin, we were so worried you wouldn't wake up," he whispered, his voice hoarse and the hands, which he used to cover her own, were shaking.

Still feeling slightly dizzy, Ginny flashed him a tired smile.

"You won't get rid of me that easily, Harry. I have a promise to keep."

If he was confused by her statement, the jet black haired man didn't show it.

He probably wouldn't have had the time to do so either, since both their sons pushed him aside to hug their mother on the hospital bed.

"We missed you, Mummy," they said simultaneously.

The witch moved her arms as best as she could and embraced both her sons.

"They were terribly worried about you, too. Especially since Al heard the sound of the crash…" Luna mumbled, obviously disappointed in herself that she hadn't been able to protect him from witnessing the scene.

"Luna, you have nothing to blame yourself for. I'm so happy you saved Al from getting hit," Ginny whispered, glanced at her thankfully and moved in order to grab her friend's hand.

The movement, however, sent a sharp pain through her lower abdomen and the young woman cringed.

"Easy there," Harry told her with a gentle smile. "You'll be sore for a couple of days due to the emergency C-Section they performed on you."

This statement caused her eyes to widen. But before she could ask her husband about her baby's health, he left the room only to appear moments later with a small, bundle wrapped in pink towels.

"She's strong and healthy," he whispered as he gently laid the infant down in her arms. "Merlin knows how you both survived that crash, though."

Amazed, Ginny stared down at her little girl, happy tears running down her cheeks. And amongst seeing her daughters emerald green eyes, she was immediately reminded of her conversation with her mother-in-law. She would have to tell her husband about that one time, she told herself.

"She's beautiful," Ginny whispered in awe.

Harry grinned and gave her a small kiss on the forehead. "Indeed she is, just like her mother."

"Indeed, she's perfect," Luna added, a huge smile on her face. "All there's left to do is to give her a proper name."

Ginny stared at her husband, surprised. "You haven't named her yet?"

He shook his head. "I wanted you to do that. I kinda told myself that the thought of naming your daughter would want you to wake up."

Ginny smiled. In a way it did.

Carefully, she brushed her thumb over the little girl's cheek and in doing so, Ginny already knew how she wanted to call her little girl.

"Lily," she said and looked at her husband with loving brown eyes. "I want to name her Lily."

Harry stared at her, tears in his eyes, and all he could do was nod.

Then, after a moment of consideration, Ginny glanced at her best friend and at her husband at the same time, before she glanced down at her little girl.

"Lily Luna Potter," she whispered softly, "in memory of the most caring, loving and protective witches known to the wizarding world."

* * *

 **Words: 2,665**

 **Written for the '100 Ways to say I love you' Challenge: #94. You can do it**

 **Written for 365 drabble day challenge at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry: #227. Infant**


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